Volt Bank

Last updated

Volt Bank Limited
Type Unlisted public company
Volt Bank
Industry Banking, Financial services
Founded2017
Defunct2022
Headquarters Sydney, Australia
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Steve Weston (CEO)
Number of employees
100 [1]
Website

Volt Bank was an Australian consumer neobank, the first such bank to be issued with a restricted ADI licence by APRA. [2] [3] In June 2022, the bank announced it would permanently close its deposit-taking business and voluntarily return its banking licence, citing funding issues. [4]

Contents

Headquartered in Sydney, Australia, the bank was founded in 2017 and was granted a full licence to operate as an authorised deposit-taking institution (ADI) on 21 January 2019. Volt used BSB 517000. [5] [6] [7]

Business

Volt’s banking platform is located in the cloud using the Temenos T24 core banking, Financial Crime Mitigation and Analytics, Salesforce and Microsoft Azure. [8] [9]

Volt Bank also has industry partnerships with PayPal, Cotton On and Collection House. [10] [11] [12]

The bank publishes a mobile app, Volt Labs App, through which customers hold discussions and give feedback on the bank's products and services. The bank was planning to begin serving small businesses in 2020. [13]

History

The banking regulator, APRA, created the restricted ADI (RADI) [14] licensing framework to encourage new entrants and competition to the existing banking system. [15]

Volt Bank was issued with a RADI licence on 7 May 2018, the first organisation to obtain one under the new licensing framework. [16] [17] In doing so, it became the first completely new institution to be licensed as retail bank in the Australian market since Australian Bank in February 1981. [18] [19] [20]

On 29 June 2022, in an email to its customer base, Volt announced their intention to cease their deposit-taking business and return their banking licence, the second neo bank to do so, following Xinja. Accounts held with Volt will be closed on 5 July 2022. [4]

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "Meet the Team". Volt Bank. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  2. ↑ Moullakis, Joyce (8 May 2018). "APRA grants first local digital licence to volt bank". AFR. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  3. ↑ Duran, Paulina. "Australia grants first banking license to online startup". Reuters. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  4. 1 2 "ROD - Home page - Volt Bank". voltbank.com.au. 9 June 2022. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
  5. ↑ McLean, Ben. "APRA grants new authorised deposit-taking institution licence to volt bank". APRA. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  6. ↑ Yates, Clancy (22 January 2019). "Volt Bank first neo-bank to get full banking licence". SMH. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  7. ↑ Banney, Alison (22 January 2019). "It's official: Volt Bank receives full banking licence, becoming Australia's first neobank". Finder.com.au. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  8. ↑ Hastie, Eliot (23 December 2018). "Volt Bank goes live in record time". Investor Daily. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  9. ↑ Henderson, James. "How Australia's newest digital banks are expanding through Microsoft ISV Temenos". ARNNET. IDG. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  10. ↑ "Volt Bank becomes first Australian company to sign a deal with Paypal in a bid to tackle customer frustration". Wholesale Investor. 9 October 2018. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  11. ↑ Bajkowski, Julian. "Digital bank Volt snares full ADI licence". ITNews. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  12. ↑ Barry, Elizabeth (24 February 2020). "Neobank Volt announces industry-first partnership with Cotton On". finder.com. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
  13. ↑ Eyers, James (22 January 2019). "Volt Bank gets APRA green light". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  14. ↑ "APRA finalises new Restricted ADI licensing framework". APRA. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  15. ↑ "APRA consults on changes to authorising new entrants to banking industry". APRA. Archived from the original on 11 May 2018. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  16. ↑ Pash, Chris. "Digital startup volt just got Australia's first restricted banking licence". Business Insider Australia. Business Insider Australia. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  17. ↑ "APRA authorises Restricted ADI". APRA. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  18. ↑ "SUBMISSION TO THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES STANDING COMMITTEE ON FINANCE AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION" (PDF). Reserve Bank of Australia. Retrieved 12 May 2018.
  19. ↑ "Submission to the Inquiry into the Australian Banking Industry Appendix 2: Australian Banks – 1980 to 1990". Reserve Bank of Australia. January 1991. Retrieved 12 May 2018.
  20. ↑ Ellerm, Jessica (2 January 2019). "Australia's neobank Volt goes live and competitor Xinja lands restricted licence". Daily Fintech. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
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